Allentown native beaten for award

June 08, 2009|By Kathy Lauer-Williams OF THE MORNING CALL

Allentown native Michael McDonald, who was nominated for a Tony Award for his colorful hippie styles for the Broadway revival of "Hair," lost to Tim Hatley, who designed the cartoon-comes-to-life costumes for "Shrek the Musical," based on the popular animated movie.

It was the first Tony nomination for McDonald, who grinned and flashed a peace sign when his name was read in the list of nominations during a pre-telecast at New York's Radio City Music Hall. The pre-telecast included the creative arts awards such as costume, lighting and sound design and were presented by Tony winners Brian Stokes Mitchell and Laura Benanti from 7 to 8 p.m. Sunday in the ceremony before the CBS live award show.

McDonald had said he was "proud of the field of designers," he was up against.

He said comparing his designs in "Hair" to those in "Shrek" is like comparing apples to oranges because the costumes in "Shrek" were already designed for the movie. But he added the costumes in "Shrek" were a "technical challenge" for Hatley.